Ah, couture. We all love ‘ooo-ing’ at it, none of us can afford it, but a handful of fashion folks can, and the entire Couture Fashion Week in Paris is geared towards them. For the rest of us it is a spectacle of fashion-as-art beauty, a chance to see the true talents of certain designers beyond the constraints of Ready-to-Wear. And who better to kick off the week then the Dior label, historically grounded in its couture. Fashion Watch learnt that the house’s flower of choice is the parrot tulip, and it was exotic flowers that themed this show. There were lots of flowing fabrics, tulle, organza and silk, giving a romantic, colourful and dramatic atmosphere to the collection. Galliano studied real flowers to get the true feel for colour, shape and romanticism, and the pieces he created were testament to his gift for intricacy and delicateness. Keep an eye out for more couture updates later in the week!

First up, it’s the Queen’s Birthday Honours time, and the list of those receiving the royal nod of approval this time around includes some fashionable faces. Tamara Mellon, she who gave ‘It’ status to shoes when we were all ditzy about bags, is to receive an OBE for her success with the Jimmy Choo label. Harold Tillman, the tour de force behind Jaeger and Aquascutum, and also the head of the British Fashion Council (style credentials indeed) is to get a CBE.

Fashion Watch is so glad that it was not going crazy after seeing the Cadbury’s Flake advert and mistaking it for some sort of Alexander McQueen tribute. Watching the beautiful model twirl suspended in the air, in a pale yellow flowing dress, was reminiscent (spookily so) of the Kate Moss hologram that McQueen used for a catwalk show in 2006. The ghostly image set to music was stunning, and remains one of most iconic memories of any fashion week, so it is no surprise that others would want to find inspiration in it as well. But the McQueen camp don’t seem too happy, with rumours circulating that they are considering suing Cadburys over the idea. However, the man behind the ad, Baillie Walsh, was the very one that worked with McQueen on that infamous show, and so Cadbury’s are maintaining that it is merely his ‘house style’ and they have done nothing wrong. We’ll have to wait for the drama to unfold further. (For those who haven’t seen the Kate Moss hologram, YouTube it, it’s spectacular even on small screen).

There is hope for the, shall we say, slightly less than stylish amongst the men around us, with the news that the whizz-kids behind the luxury online retailer Net-a-Porter is to launch a dedicated menswear site, called Mr Porter. It is due to launch in January next year, and will feature all the design giants and bijou labels that we now expect from Net-a-Porter, but completely turned over to the male POV. Burberry, YSL and Ralph Lauren are already reported to be featured, so there will really be no excuse for poorly dressed dates from now on.

Speaking of luxury retailers, the stalwart of the Oxford Street shopping scene, Selfridges, was voted number one in a list compiled by the members of the International Group of Department Stores. Our very own yellow-bagged haven beat off stiff competition from department stores around the world, including New York’s famous Bloomingdales, and Lane Crawford in Hong Kong. Selfridges is famous around the world for its avant garde fashion windows and themed rooms, including an Alice in Wonderland room dedicated to the release of the film, and plenty of fantastically fashionable promotions throughout the year. And with the summer sale starting today, London’s most stylish feet will be once again stampeding to the end of Oxford Street and through those famous doors. Race you there.

Also last week’s news now but one that most certainly deserves a mention was the announcement that Sarah Burton has been named as the new creative director of Alexander McQueen. Fashion Watch was extremely happy to learn back in February, after the designer’s death, that the brand would continue, and Burton is probably the only real and proper choice for the role. Having formerly been the head of women’s wear under McQueen, she has worked with him since 1996, graduating from Central St Martins – McQueen’s alma mater – in 1997. It was Burton that put the finishing touches to the almost-completed collection back in February, which was to be McQueen’s final show and which won rave reviews from the fashion press worldwide. Saying in a statement that she ‘would stay true’ to McQueen’s legacy, we’re sure she will take his legendary vision to new heights in the future.

Fashion Watch will always remember an acquaintance who worked for Louis Vuitton explaining how the bespoke team for LV could produce basically anything for their top clients, most infamously for a gentlemen’s plastic duck, who travelled the world with his owner in a personalised Vuitton case. Whether truth or urban myth I do not know, but it still came as no surprise, after hearing of the duck case, that it was Louis Vuitton that was called upon to create the home for the FIFA World Cup trophy. Britain’s very own Naomi Campbell unveiled its custom-made travel case yesterday, which will hold the trophy until the final in July. “The exceptional commission truly honours Louis Vuitton’s 150-year tradition of craftsmanship and savoir-faire.” Fashion Watch wonders whether the same can be said of the duck case?

When supermodels are out of fashion (quite literally) then it doesn’t matter, as fashion has The Celebrity, and finds the time to play a sycophantic role in their lives and careers. At one point I swear that, other than in Victoria’s Secret shows, supermodels were basically living under the metaphorical rock (other than Kate Moss, and even she spent more time on the front covers of gossip magazines than fashion ones) and celebrities were firmly in the spotlight. Our muses were celebs: Alexa Chung or Sienna Miller, our perfumes were borne of celebrity fame, be it from JLo or Sarah Jessica Parker, and glossy page adverts featured the a-listers instead of the models: Madonna for Louis Vuitton, Jennifer Connelly for Balenciaga and Lily Allen for Chanel. Whilst these uber-celebs often rocked their times at the forefront of the fashion houses, the puritanical fashion streak in me couldn’t help but think that they should stick to their day jobs – and get the models back to do theirs.

But literally in the space of this year I have noticed a shift: the Super, it seems, is back. Modernised and under new guises yes, but Super nonetheless. On the blogs celebrities are always a fashion focus, but recently the chatter has been all model. We are still girl-crushing on Gisele, recent yummy mummy as well as being named as the highest earning model in the world, taking home $25 million last year. A glance at the top spots are all recognisable model names, no more are our models nameless, faceless canvases. Heidi Klum (a Super still going strong) is in second, and Kate Moss in third. Also in the top 10 are Doutzen Kroes, Natalia Vodianova, Adriana Lima, Miranda Kerr and Daria Weborwy – all the names that I am now associating with ‘the New Super’. We’re all interested in Kerr’s latest ID magazine cover, and most tabloids, fashion websites and blogs were covering Lara Stone’s weekend wedding to David Walliams. Models are our new celebs, which puts the latter down in second place.

Stone is seemingly this season’s model du jour, the face and body of many campaigns, magazine covers and fashion features this season. In a trumping of model over a-lister, Stone replaced Madonna late last year as the face of Louis Vuitton, starring in the spring/summer 2010 adverts and next season’s as well. Vuitton’s communications director said at the time: ‘after two seasons working with a huge star, Marc Jacobs decided to take a breather and work with a model…it’s the choice of a new supermodel.’

The summer campaign images for high street giant H&M also feature Lara Stone amongst a stellar model line-up including Daria Werbowy, Erin Wasson and Sasha Pivovarova in a bikini campaign shot, walking straight to camera, all toned limbs and petite curves. The images were even shot by a Super photographer, the acclaimed Patrick Demarchelier, who wanted to capture a ‘glamorous, jet-set lifestyle’. The image is everywhere at the moment, in the shop windows, on billboards at bus stops and in magazines – a constant presence of New Supers in fashion.

Over on the cover of German Vogue, we have a Super of past and present, the fabulous (and very pregnant) Claudia Schiffer, posing a la Demi Moore for a shot that will surely go down in model cover history. Once again, the photographer matched the Super level of the muse: it was the legendary Karl Lagerfeld. Speaking of him, Karl is reminiscing once again, with the choice of Vanessa Paradis as the face of Chanel’s Coco Cocoon bag line, after a previous love-in with the Celeb in the shape of Lily Allen. Paradis has collaborated with Chanel twice before on the handbag campaigns, and Mr Lagerfeld gushed: ‘she is the most divine person to work with, so why change?’ Well it seems in the fashion world, change is happening, but it’s the Supers that are back.

Big names need big dresses, and top came Oprah herself, in Oscar de la Renta, a huge ruffled midnight blue gown that only someone as grand as she could pull off. After all, she’s Oprah, if she wants ruffles she gets ruffles. Ms Wintour went for Chanel once again, this time a silver column gown with long silver embellished coat. It was typical Wintour in that it manages to look like everything she’s ever worn and something completely new at the same time, if you get my drift.

One of my favourites wasn’t everybody’s cup of tea, Marion Cotillard in Dior. The whole look was very vintage red carpet, waved hair and sequin, floor-length gown with sheer sleeves. Many have suggested that the gown should have been strapless to keep the look young, but if anyone can pull off Hollywood vintage then it’s this French gal, so I’m sticking to my guns and saying it’s fabulous.

Obviously what with the SATC2 film just around the corner, Sarah Jessica Parker needed to pull a fashion magic trick out of the bag to keep her crown as She of Fashion Skill and make up for her not very popular Oscars look. And she certainly worked it well in Halston Heritage. The dress had a Twenties-Thirties hybrid vibe, full length pinky nude shimmering dress with a drop waist and spaghetti straps. The style was great for SJP’s petite figure (although in my opinion she was looking a little too sinewy skinny) and the look was topped off with very SATC oversize flower in her relaxed wavy hair. We’ll overlook the flower since, you know, it’s Carrie, but we don’t usually like huge accessories that overshadow the dress.

I do love a fashionable trio, and who better than Stella McCartney, Kate Hudson and Liv Tyler, who all wore McCartney’s designs (as they did last year) and who always look relaxed and happy on the red carpet. Stella herself wore a black one-shoulder mini dress (who knew she had such amazing legs?) and Liv also kept the hemline short in a lace overlay shift style dress. Kate went full-length in a silvery gown with sequin detailing and a split to the thigh.

Both Emma Watson and Claire Danes were in Burberry, but chose very different looks indeed. Everyone is singing Watson’s praises for her white one-shoulder, sculptured bodice detailed dress, complete with American tan and loose hair. I loved the tan, make-up and hair, but my first thought on seeing the dress was that someone had been playing ‘toilet paper bridal dress’ at a hen party and that this was the result. I have since studied it in detail, but no, I’m still not convinced. Claire Danes had the safer option no doubt, and I’m worried that my fashion imagination is off the boil if I’m choosing safe over substance, but her black shimmering column gown looked elegant, and worked with the new sexy vibe that she’s rocking at the moment, so this is the winner for me.

Sienna Miller is giving me flashbacks at the moment. Not only is she back on the red carpet with Jude Law, but her Pucci plunged to the navel, ruffled, fluffy-hemmed, sequin detailed dress is reminiscent of her post-boho ‘hot mess’ faze, and she even had the smokey eyes and tan to complete the look. Maybe she’s proving a point, or maybe this is what Jude likes, but I’m discombobulated by the similarities to circa 2007 and so feel unable to judge the dress by its own merits.

There are not many people that could pull off white, full length, high-necked, tight Calvin Klein dresses, so step up Diane Kruger who did just that, and looked great. Anyone that falls prey to over-accessorising should take note – Kruger often goes completely without jewels and keeps hair pulled back to let her dress do the talking. And it’s talking a good spin indeed.

Anne Hathaway surprised me by staying away from her sexy dressing of late (which we love, in the manner of Gwyneth Paltrow in Balmain last year) and referenced her Princess Diaries days in a Valentino ball gown. But it was a very well-fitting, neutral/gold gown that looked lovely against her skin, and with un-styled hair and minimal jewels, the dress stood out for all the right reasons.

I don’t mean to always pick on the same person on the red carpet, but this year so far the dunce cap keeps falling to Kristen Stewart, who once again managed to mis-wear Chanel. It wasn’t the best dress anyway, with a busy, sculptured bodice and sheer skirt, but she looked so uncomfortable in it (she had the same problem in Chanel at the Baftas) that she ended up looking slightly sulky and as if someone had forced her into choosing it. Although maybe they did, we hear that Mr Lagerfeld can be quite persuasive.

There were many others that could make the list of interesting dresses to discuss around the water cooler, but too many to decipher here, so add any other hits and misses below and join me at my metaphorical Met Ball window.

But in other fun fashion news, Fashion Watch was interested to read which films the Times had deemed the most fashionable films ever. And whilst many would be rooting for Sex and the City, the film didn’t make the cut. The list seemed to focus more on the general stylish feelings of certain films, rather than the abundance of labels (although The Devil Wears Prada was on the list) and so although there was no SATC, there was West Side Story, Bonnie and Clyde, Coco avant Chanel (naturally) and A Single Man, which, as probably the most chic film FW has seen for a while, definitely deserves the inclusion, if only for Colin Firth’s fantastic glasses and suits. Let us know which films, or characters in films, that you would want on the Most Fashionable list.

If you’re living in or visiting the capital, then here’s a bit of fun for you: the Jimmy Choo Trainer Hunt. To celebrate the first collection of Choo trainers (and chic, non-sporty trainers are part of the ‘in’ look for spring) the brand has launched a treasure hunt around London, which gives you the chance to get your hands on a pair of the funky things. The trainers will be popping up in all the most fashionable areas of London (rumour has it they were at the Mandarin Bar last night, as well as popping up at exhibitions and along Oxford Street). The trainers update you from their Twitter feed (username: CatchAChoo) and if they pop up near you, then you are in with a chance to catch them and keep them. I have the day off today – is it wrong to stalk footwear?

And finally, at last the sun seems to be shining and this weekend is set to be the warmest yet for many parts of the country, so if you haven’t sorted your summer wardrobe out then perhaps take some inspiration from the Coachella festival in perennially sunny LA, which hails the start of the fashionable festival season. So although this means we’ll be seeing tenuous Brit ‘it’ girls popping up all over the music circuit in various states of boho undress, it does give us a chance to judge which celebs can pull off ‘summer in the mud without GHDs’ best. So far the look seems to be based around playsuits, loose-fit shirts and flirty dresses – pastel pink for Agyness Deyn (showing off her new androgynous crop) and uber-short and floral from the always-sexy Daisy Lowe. Beyonce chose denim hot-pants and an oversize t-shirt to watch Jay-Z perform, and Dita von Teese, who never does anything less than polished, opted for a 1950s look that one would imagine Marilyn Monroe would wear at Coachella: flared trousers and structured cone-bra style top, complete with huge sunglasses. Proof that you don’t have to do boho to succeed at the festivals. Any other favourite looks? Post ‘em below.

Speaking of the British Fashion Council, they have just crowned uber-talented designer Erdem as the winner of the Vogue/BFC Designer Fashion Fund. The winner beat stiff competition in the form of Christopher Kane, Angel Jackson, Marios Schwab and Nicholas Kirkwood among others, and will receive £200,000. The designer Erdem Moralioglu was said to be ‘thrilled’ with his win, stating that the prize money would allow the brand and business to be taken ‘to the next level’. The British Fashion Council said that Erdem was chosen for ‘his strong design signature and clear vision for the immediate development and growth of his business’. The designer is hot property at the moment, after yet another fantastic collection for autumn 2010 shown in February, and both Sarah Brown and Samantha Cameron (as well as Michelle Obama from across the pond) proving that the floral Erdem creations are perfect for First Ladies as well as fashionistas.

Fantastic Female alert over at Net-a-Porter, as it is confirmed that the company, set up by Natalie Massenet ten years ago, was acquired by the Richemont group (which was already the largest shareholder), valuing the company at a massive £350m. Massenet started the company with a handful of friends for support when she realised that the clothes she worked with as a fashion editor were not accessible to the majority of fashion fans in the country, and she thought that they would benefit from a designer home delivery service. Now women worldwide wait in anticipation for their orders to be delivered to their doors in the stylish black boxes, sometimes hot off the catwalks and other times classics from the likes of Louboutin, Burberry and Dolce and Gabbana. Massenet, who received approximately £50m for her remaining shares in the company, is to stay on as executive chairman and will plough millions back into the brand, to continue its growth and presence on the global fashion stage.

And finally, it is no surprise that Christian Louboutin’s company grew by double digits in 2009, after all, who can resist the lure of those red soles? But who would have thought that he owed so much to mega-selling author Danielle Steel, who according to the shoe creator extraordinaire owns over 6,000 pairs of the coveted things. ‘She is super’ Louboutin says. Well, he couldn’t really say anything else about who Fashion Watch is sure is his biggest financial asset.

Sportswear – more ‘luxury cashmere and silk’ First Class aeroplane wear than what you should wear to the gym. When I saw the word ‘joggers’ appearing all over the fashion media, and this was after harems came, dug their heels in and survived, I was worried. The magazines might have been advocating loose-fit joggers teamed with blazers and high-heels, but I was seeing a troupe of well-meaning fashionistas stuck in Sweaty Betty looking puzzled. It got even more confusing when I passed stylish, attractive women on the streets and didn’t know whether they were heading to exclusive yoga classes or Soho House. The thing seems to be to overdress the rest of your outfit to balance out the casualness of the joggers. Whistles does a great pair in grey that have tie-waist and all, but styled with black blazer, uber-heels (peep toe shoe boots perchance?) and slim-fit luxe t-shirt (The Row in my dreams, Cos in real life) the look comes together nicely. And let’s face it, after a couple of seasons of the trend for super skinny jeans and high-shine leather leggings, it’s nice to be able to breathe out and actually eat lunch.

Underwear as Outwear: I’ve been waxing lyrical about this trend since last September, without actually ever attempting it in any real sense. Hence the first problem with this trend: you need casual insouciance to carry it off, otherwise you will have ‘oh my god my bra is on show’ written all over your face. Obviously, the high street is all over Berardi style look at the moment, and I’m sure underwear boutiques are very happy about all the sexy bras we now need in order to be able to wear our blouses unbuttoned. And yes, ladies (and gentlemen, we know you’re looking) that’s where the invisible line is: how to do fashion sexy without looking trampy. I think a good tactic if you are not one for transparent fabric is the dusky, lingerie-inspired colours on offer. Choose silky materials and taupe, pale pink, cream and soft greys to give a romantically sexy look. Zara have a fantastic pale pink blazer that would look great over a black corseted top and slim black trousers. Very Celine colours!

And finally, clogs. Yes Alexa Chung is wearing them. Yes Chanel said they were in. And yes, they seem to be everywhere now. But I don’t know how to wear them, what to do with them or how to combat the ‘slippy feet’ clogs syndrome, so you better try it out for yourselves and see how it goes. Just beware of cobbles, and don’t say I didn’t warn you.

The announcement of the sale of the Nicole Farhi label came at the same time as news of the sale of the Tommy Hilfiger brand to Calvin Klein’s owners Philips-Van Heusen for the much grander sum of around 2.2 billion euros. Hilfiger himself remains principle designer and ‘face’ of his brand, but has no management role in the business side of the company.

What with all the closures of various magazines and fashion publications during the recession, it’s nice to see a new launch, especially of something as cool as The Gentlewoman, the new biannual fashion bible from the publishers behind men’s style mag Fantastic Man. Editor in Chief of the new title, Penny Martin, told Grazia magazine that she wanted The Gentlewoman to be something that women ‘could sit down and enjoy reading’ and it should attract interested fashionistas with its debut issue, with an exclusive interview with Celine’s newest designer Phoebe Philo, formerly of Chloe and responsible for one of the best collections on the Paris catwalks this season with the autumn/winter 2010 Celine show. The first issue will be available in newsagents on the 22^nd March.

A trickle of Britain’s most successful designers have been slowly returning to London Fashion Week over the last couple of seasons, but one of the country’s hottest, John Galliano, has been kept in Paris due to the success of his creative directing role at French super-fashion house Dior. But he will be crashing back to our shores soon enough, as he has been announced as Donnatella Versace’s replacement as the honorary chairman of the annual Fashion Fringe in Covent Garden. He has signed up for the role for the next two years, and will spearhead the search for London’s hottest new designers. Previous winners of Fashion Fringe include fashion editor and First Lady favourite Erdem, as well as Basso and Brooke. The applications for this year’s Fringe competition are now open so if you are a budding designer you better have a look.

I somewhat wimped out of doing a show report for Milan, choosing mainly to coo over the images yet keep my opinions to myself. I don’t know if it’s because it directly follows London, or because the Italian fashion week style is so sumptuous, detailed and downright manic, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to settle down to it. But of course, I had to mention my favourites, which fell pretty much in line with the rest of the fashion press: Dolce and Gabbana at the top, and Versace’s baby sister line Versus as a close second, owing mainly to my affection for one Mr Kane.

The fabulous D&G duo stripped back fashion pretension and headline-grabbing stunts to return to their Italian chic tailoring roots with a collection that had editors in raptures (and tears) and everyone else reminiscing about the ‘good old days’ of high-quality design houses and true fashion skills. Style.com referred to the technique of showing their classics and how they make them as ‘simple, yet moving’ and many editors pinned it as the best show of the season so far. I now covet the oversize yet immaculately fitted black tuxedo jackets and beautiful lace-trimmed slips. The hair and make-up was mostly vintage and relaxed, keeping the focus completely on the beautiful clothes.

Over at Versus, Christopher Kane also used went vintage with classic Versace inspiration to create the collection of party girl classics with the usual Italian twist. However, although Kane focused on the young woman image, the clothes were flattering and fresh instead of going straight to short, tight and splendid (which were included but not exclusively). Skirts were a particularly good feature, reminding me of one of Kane’s own early collections which included skater skirts. My favourite look was the flared skirt with heavier leather biker jacket, creating a harder silhouette than the frou frou of the skirts.

Also going back to classics was Prada, who caused quite a stir by declaring that their designs should be ‘normal’ clothes and therefore tried to stay mostly away from styling their runway with the usual waifs. Although the models chosen were still Those of Fantastic Bodies, the girls did give more of a Nineties feel to the looks: uber models for an uber brand. Among them were Miranda Kerr and Lara Stone, two of the bright young hits of the catwalk scene. And now it has been reported that Giles Deacon wants the same attitude from his runway, using many models that also work as Angels for Victoria’s Secret, including Rosie Huntingdon-Whiteley, Alessandra Ambrosio and Karolina Kurkova.

I would have loved to have been a fashionable fly on the wall at the recent media viewing of the very hush-hush Topshop beauty launch, which will happen in May. Although it is no secret that the high-street giant were planning to finally branch out into make-up, it has been kept under wraps exactly what the collection will look like, although I’m sure it will be as huge a hit as any new Topshop invention or collaboration has been over recent years. The only thing known is that the range is going to be big, and will include a huge array of colours (very Mac I’m sure) as well as season-led trend bits and bobs to complement the basic product range. Can’t wait!